The World's Most Extraordinary Homes - episode one: from a house made out of a Jumbo jet to an almost invisible desert retreat

A new BBC series kicks off its round-the-world tour of weird and wonderful properties by taking to the mountains...
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Becky Davies28 March 2018

A house made out of a Jumbo jet, an almost invisible desert retreat, a home inspired by origami and one that can only be reached by cable car all feature in the first episode of The World's Most Extraordinary Homes.

In the four-part BBC Two series, actress - and keen property renovator - Caroline Quentin accompanies architect Piers Taylor around the world visiting amazing properties set in breathtaking landscapes.

Each week focuses on a different type of landscape, starting with mountains.

Jumbo Jet: the plane’s aluminium wings form the roof of the house in California 
Rex Features

THE 'JUMBO JET' HOUSE
747 Wing House, California

As its name reveals, the basis of this house is an old Boeing 747, or Jumbo jet, using both the wings and tail fins.

When owner Francie, a retired car dealer, decided she wanted an eco-friendly, tranquil and, above all, feminine home in the Santa Monica hills, she didn't know what she letting herself in for.

After interviewing more than a dozen architects, she settled on David Hertz, who came up with his audacious idea during a flight and says: "Why try to build a wing when you could appropriate a wing?"

The aluminium wings form the roof of the house and are even strong enough to be the perfect site for vertigo-inducing drinks parties.

After buying a retired 747 for just £40,000, the real expense began because the wings, fins and a piece of fuselage had to be brought to the remote site by helicopter.

Francie would only admit to the final bill being "millions and millions of dollars", but says: "It's a phenomenal environment, it's so very beautiful, every day is a complete and utter joy."

Tucson Mountain Retreat: the owners wanted to build a property that made little impact on the fragile environment but would keep them safe from extreme weather conditions
Bill Timmerman

THE HOUSE WITH NO CORRIDORS
Tucson Mountain Retreat, Arizona

Five hundred miles away, the Arizona desert climate is far fiercer than in California, with summers hitting over 100F and winters dropping below freezing.

When San Diego doctors David and Karen finally got hold of a plot of a land after a 12-year search, they employed Dust architects to create a home that had little impact on the fragile environment, while protecting its occupants from the extremes of weather.

The one-storey home has walls of rammed earth that absorb heat in the day and release it at night to minimise heating and cooling costs.

However, its occupants are never far from the desert because the house has no corridors, meaning that to reach another room you have to step out into the open air.

Despite not being a fan of the scattered cubes that make up the staircase to the front door, Quentin says: "It's one of the finest houses I've seen."

The Invisible Lakehouse: the cedar-clad home overlooks Lake Wanaka 
BBC/Wall to Wall/Jack Dwyer

THE INVISIBLE LAKEHOUSE
​Te Kaitaka, Wanaka, New Zealand

When architects Gary Lawson and Nicholas Stevens got the chance to design a home on a rarely available plot overlooking Lake Wanaka, they forgot about vertical and horizontal lines.

Gary says: "The landscape was like fabric draped over rocks, With mountains you see triangles, so we wanted to architecturalise it. Through origami we came to that."

Clad from top to toe in cedar, the house blends in so well with the hillside that it's almost invisible from a distance.

The origami techniques came in in providing light to all areas of the house, which planning restrictions prevented from having lots of windows, by creating a folded, angled roof with cunningly placed skylights.

The translation of the Maori name for the house is "The Cloak", an apt description because the house cloaks not only the occupants but the beautiful mountain spot it sits on.

THE HOUSE 'BUILT IN A DAY'
House on the Rigi, Swiss Alps

Sitting 5,500ft above sea level, this modern take on a Swiss chalet can only be reached by a 15-minute cable car ride from the nearest town.

Strong winds whistle around the mountainside all year round and the house is hexagonally shaped to provide strength against the elements.

Joint owners and architects Andreas and Gabrielle lined it with plywood, except for the cast concrete fireplaces, and everything had to be brought in by helicopter after prefabrication.

After all the pieces arrived, however, it was just a matter of putting them all together and Andreas says: "The house was done in a day."

After visiting the four houses, Quentin says she has come realise something profound about architecture: "I've learned that it is not about rooms, spaces, where the windows are or what the surfaces are like, it's how a place feels, it's about atmosphere."

The World's Most Extraordinary Homes is on BBC Two on Fridays at 9pm